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Parallelism PDF
Parallelism PDF
We’ll analyse the above sentences while figuring out which of them are parallel in
construction.
The parallel structures are indicated by Parallel Tags (or Signal Words or Markers)
The tags are the words that require parallel structures. (Either/or in above cases),
which means that if you have “either X or Y”, then the “X” and the “Y” must be
parallel.
Signal Words indicate that you are looking at parallel structures.
The words that follow these tags are automatically included in the parallel structures.
These following words must have parallel grammar. You cannot omit words that
follow one of these tags.
As explained above the tag here is or. The words preceding and following the tag are
in Tennessee and in Kentucky, which are both prepositional phrases. Hence the
sentence is parallel.
Now the question is what about the parallel tags that only have one component? Like
AND/OR – two most common parallelism tags. So we’ll re-examine the sentence
number 1 and 2.
The process to follow is:
- Proceed from RIGHT TO LEFT in your analysis (because only the right
hand part is tagged).
- Look at the words following the tag. These words must be the right hand
parallel structure.
- Then decide what words you need on the left.
- If they are anywhere, then the structures are properly parallel.
Sentence No. 1: Most fossils of species X were found in Tennessee or Kentucky.
Noun Noun
As said above, we start from Kentucky, which is a proper noun. As we move left of
or we find Tennessee, which is also a proper noun. Hence, the sentences are parallel.
1. I want to east fish and chips , drink Mountain Dew , and go to sleep. √
VERB VERB VERB
2. I want to eat fish and chips , drink Mountain Dew , and I want to go to sleep. X
↑ ↑
NOT PARALLEL
3. I want to eat fish and chips , to drink Mountain Dew , and to go to go to sleep. √
INFINITIVE INFINITIVE INFINITIVE
In a list of three or more items, the COMMA and the AND are the tags.
Q. GMAT Prep
Found throughout Central and South America, sloths hang from trees by long rubbery
limbs and sleep 15 hours a day, moving infrequently enough that two species of an
algae grow on its coat and between its toes.
(A) sloths hang from trees by long rubbery limbs and sleep 15 hours a day,
moving infrequently enough
(B) sloths hang from trees by long rubbery limbs, they sleep 15 hours a day, and
with such infrequent movements
(C) sloths use their long rubbery limbs to hang from trees, sleep 15 hours a day,
and move so infrequently
(D) the sloth hangs from trees by its long rubbery limbs, sleeping 15 hours a day
and moving so infrequently
(E) the sloth hangs from trees by its long rubbery limbs, sleeps 15 hours a day,
and it moves frequently enough
Analogy: Remember that modifiers don’t have to- shouldn’t be parallel to the main
action.
Eg. Joe ran down the street, flapping his arm wildly.
Main clause Modifier
Joe ran down the street, flapping his arm wildly and screaming at the top of his
Main clause Modifier Modifier
lungs.
We can see in the second sentence that after the main clause there are two Comma+ -
ing modifiers separated by and. Both the modifiers are parallel to each other, but they
need not to be parallel to the main clause.
☼ In GMAT:
If there is a list of three or more things, there must be a COMMA before the
final “and”.
Which means, “X, Y and Z”→ this is not a proper list of three things?
“X, Y, and Z”→ this is proper list of three things.
If you take a look the option D and E in the above question you see that option D
doesn’t have a comma before the final and while option E has a comma before the
final and which means that option D clearly implies that there is no list of three things
which is apparently correct.
Q. Until Berta and Earnt Scharrer established the concept of neurosecretion in 1928,
scientists believed that either cells secreted hormones, which made them endocrine
cells and thus part of the endocrine system, or conducted electrical impulses, in which
case they were nerve cells and thus part of the nervous system.
(A) either cells secreted hormones, which made them
(B) either cells secreted hormones, making them
(C) either cells secreted hormones and were
(D) cells either secreted hormones, in which case they were
(E) cells either secreted hormones, which made them
So we see that option D is the correct choice. Option D is in fact 100% parallelism.
If you encounter parallelism this perfect, you should definitely pick it.
Now we’ll analyse Parallelism with some more examples (remember to read right to
left):
1. hand signs that natives use and that appear in local rituals √
That subordinate clause- modifying hand signs That subordinate clause- modifying hand signs
and
3. hand signs used by natives appearing in local rituals √
Past participle used as an adjective to describe hand signs Present participle used as an adjective describing hand signs.
Similar to sentence no. 3, you can find a question in OG 12, no. 42.
Q. A report by the American Academy for the Advancement if Science has concluded
that much of the currently uncontrolled dioxins which North Americans are exposed
to comes from the incineration of wastes.
(A) much of the currently uncontrolled dioxins which North Americans are exposed
to comes
(B) much of the currently uncontrolled dioxins that North Americans are exposed to
come
(C) much of the dioxins that are currently uncontrolled and that North Americans are
exposed to comes
(D) many of the dioxins that are currently uncontrolled and North Americans are
exposed to come
(E) many of the currently uncontrolled dioxins to which North Americans are exposed
come
In the above question we can see that A, B, and C uses “much” which is wrong as
dioxins is a countable noun and “much” cannot be used with countable nouns.
There is another criterion on the basis of which we can discard B and C.
Ø You are not allowed to end a modifier with a preposition.
For example:
-the restaurant we ate at INCORRECT
-the person I spoke with
Option D:
many of the dioxins that are currently uncontrolled and North Americans are
New subject Verb
exposed to come NOT PARALLEL